Manteca’s boys basketball team hung with the No. 1-seeded team for a two-plus quarters Friday but ultimately could not keep pace with Rio Americano in a 52-41 loss.
The No. 8 Buffaloes’ run ended in the second round of the stacked Sac-Joaquin Section Division II playoffs, but coach Jason Hitt was pleased with the effort put forth by his Valley Oak League co-championship squad.
“Our Buffs team gave max defensive effort for three quarters and held down a very talented Raider group who has beaten Folsom, the No. 1 team (overall) in our Section going into the playoffs.”
The difference was sophomore standout Jace Thompson, who scored 15 of his game-high 26 points in the fourth quarter. Senior guard Ramesh Kabiri and Elijah Nelson each had 10 points for Manteca, while Santiago Sanders scored seven to go with 12 rebounds.
Manteca (23-7) led 21-20 at halftime but was held scoreless for the first 5 ½ minutes of the third quarter. The Raiders (26-4), ahead 29-26, broke away with 23 points in the fourth.
Noah Lyons, the Buffaloes’ leading scorer for the season, was limited to just two points. He hit the buzzer-beater that lifted Manteca past Bella Vista 51-50 in the opening round Wednesday.
“We could not make a shot with plenty of opportunities,” Hitt said of his team’s third-quarter drought. “They did a really good job of containing Noah tonight, and we just didn’t hit enough shots as a team.”
Rio Americano remains as the lone top-four seed in this highly-competitive bracket. Next Wednesday, the Raiders welcome 13th-seeded Granite Bay, which stunned No. 4 Woodcreek, 74-40. Meanwhile, No. 6 Ponderosa and No. 7 Whitney will duke it out on the other end of the bracket.
“I was happy with our season overall,” Hitt said. “We won a league title, the first since 2017, and the first in the opening of our new gym, we also won our first playoff game in Division II. The younger boys will get about a month off, and then we will get back to work.”
Division III
Vanden 51, East Union 46
In Fairfield, the ninth-seeded Lancers (18-11) had the reigning champion on the ropes for three quarters but could not overcome late-game mistakes in their upset bid.
Paced by seniors Anthony Cy and Dylan Lee with 19 and 15 points, respectively, East Union stunned the top-seeded Vikings (21-9) out the gate with a 9-0 run and led by six to start the fourth quarter.
“We had the lead for about 28 minutes of the game,” first-year EU coach Dutch Ell said. “My kids fought all game long, and we took it to them. Vanden is incredibly talented, and all five outsized us. Couple mistakes at the end proved too much to overcome. But what an incredible season, and we did more than most thought we could. I couldn’t be more proud of this group. An incredibly tough team.”
Vanden moves onto the semifinals and faces No. 4 Central Catholic next.
